Annie's recovery...

After a couple days of worrying silence, Anvik has found his voice again and found it with a vengance! So far today I have heard all about how much he hates his bite-not collar, how he dislikes the peanut butter chewies, hates his crate and a whole lot of HEY LET ME OUT!! So, I caved!

He's been outside several times. He perks up out there, but he can't stay out for long. He doesn't want to anyway. In one of his panic attacks today he managed to chew up his coat, so now he can't stay out for long even if he does want to. It's not that cold, but that's a lot of exposed skin and he doesn't need frostbite on top of everything else!

This is has got to hurt and I'm sure some of his carrying on is pain related. Not just that he's a big momma's boy at the best of times!

Then I caved again a little while ago. Now Anvik is in the computer room with me, lounging on a comforter eating the same chewie he hated a few hours ago! He has pulled the bite-not collar off since I took this, but he's not ripping the gauze off his stitches. I'm just going to leave it off for awhile.

It's nice to hear his voice again, but suspect this two weeks of crate rest is going to feel more like two months for both of us!

Only my dog...

This would only happen to one of my dogs! Read along...you'll understand....

Anvik got to come home tonight. When I picked him up, Dr. Rick came out to talk to me about the surgery and recovery expectations. Turns out that the lump was not actually intestines poking out. Anvik had a very definate hernia in his abdomen wall, but the lump was his KIDNEY!!! His freakin' kidney had popped right out of his abdomen!! That is not good, not good at all! In his career, Dr. Rick has seen this same injury once before!! Once!! He said it's so rare it's not even mentioned in vet school and he can't find any mention of it in his reference library. Only my dog would get hurt in such a unique way! It was a complete fluke injury. Annie was in the exact wrong position and the exact wrong time!

The repair did go quite well. There is massive bruising including some in the kidney itself. He has significant muscle tears just above the actual hernia. Those couldn't be stitched. They were too ragged so will have to heal on their own. Unfortunately, due to the kidney damage, no pain meds! Anvik has perked up since he got home, but sheesh, that has to hurt!! Has to!!

So the current rehab plan is this:
-Two weeks of crate rest! Outside to pee, on a leash and right back in his crate!
I will be stocking up on every treat known to man! Anvik has lost ten pounds since he arrived here so he can afford to lay around and snack for a bit!
-In two weeks, the sutures come out and he gets his kidney function tested.
-For the next two to four weeks, controlled, limited exercise. On-leash only, no playing with other dogs, no bouncing around the yard like a kangaroo!
-After that, if he is recovering as expected, Anvik can return to harness--slow, short runs at first.

The good news is he will heal and he will be able to pull again. I don't really care if he ever pulls again, just want my happy boy back, but Anvik would care. He is a working dog and he thrives on it. He would not be a happy camper if he has to retire at 6! He's going to be ticked off enough when he feels a bit better and gets left behind!

The other good news--the bill, while still substantial, was less than I was expecting!

Anvik Again!!!!

Anvik has lived here since the end of August and I swear he's spent more time at the vet than any other dog in the yard! He's at the clinic right now, been there all day and if we're both lucky he might get to come home tomorrow!

Last night, I was getting ready to head with a team for a little mushing by moonlight.

The run went really well, once we got out of the yard. Prior to this fun(pic was taken last night), the dogs had a little scuffle. Waiting to be hooked up + a full moon = brain dead dogs! Anvik, who could not fight his way out of a paper bag, ended up on the bottom of a dogpile. The fight looked pretty minor and didn't last long. We've certainly had much, much worse fights in the past. I got the instigators isolated and checked everyone over. No blood, no obvious wounds, within a few minutes almost everyone was back to their usual little canine selves.

Except Anvik, he was whiny and upset, but I couldn't find anything wrong with him. So I put him in the porch, where he eats and where one of his crates is kept and went for a run. After the run, he ate and drank like he always does. Still couldn't find anything obviously wrong with him, but he squealed in pain when he tried to jump up and give me a hug. He gives the best hugs! So I gave him a dose of Metacam and put him in his big crate beside my bed. I thought he'd just pulled a muscle or was just stiff from the fight.

This morning, he was not terribly interested in getting out of his crate, but when he finally did, he whined and was moving very stiffly. As he drags his little butt out of the crate, I notice a lump on his left side about the size of both of my fists together! It feels like it's full of fluid. So I figure I missed something and he's got the start of a big abcess. Call my boss and tell her I'm going to be late. Take Anvik to the vet clinic. Since he was a drop-off, they just squeezed him in whenever they found time, which turned out to be about two o'clock this afternoon.

It's not an abcess, not an infection, the vet can't find any wounds either. He attempted to do an x-ray, but Anvik freaked out when they moved his legs. That's when they noticed the lump changes size and moves a lot. Because it's a HERNIA! Two inches long and an inch wide!!! That's not fluid in it, that's Annie's intestines sticking out!!! That's a much bigger problem than a missed puncture wound. This requires emergency surgery or it can quickly become life-threatening! Oh, and apparently it's not quite as simple of a procedure as it was when Stuart had his hernia repair. Stuart got to come home in a couple hours!

Thank God Annie likes his crate. The recovery period is extended and will require long stretches in his crate. He is going to be a miserable creature when he figures out that he's getting left behind all the time! I've been told to expect six weeks of recovery before he can pull again! Could be less, could be even more! Wah!

This little happy face likely won't be seen for awhile!

But I expect there will be a whole lot of his patented "Anvik Death Howl" going on! I suppose I should try to enjoy the quiet tonight!